I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng's victory actually had an element of luck involved.

Just as Qing Deng had predicted, Ito Daizo, a man of outstanding talent in his time, did indeed possess a special talent related to the core muscle groups of his body.

"Elephant Core +1"... Just like the Oishi Kuwajiro whom Aoto faced a few days ago, Ito Daizo's innate talent is enhanced.

The effects were immediate after acquiring this new talent.

Qingdeng first felt a warm current, like a vast ocean, rushing through his chest and abdomen.

After nearly 10 seconds, the warm current slowly receded like a tide.

Immediately afterwards, Qingdeng felt that the muscles in the core of his body had become much more solid, and each muscle contained a power far greater than before.

Qing Deng immediately tested his new power. He subtly straightened his back—thump—the clothes around Qing Deng's waist and abdomen were shaken and made a muffled sound.

"Bear's Waist +1" and "Elephant's Core +1".

The former enhances the explosive power of the waist, while the latter enhances the constant output capacity of the core muscle groups, including the waist.

The combination of these two factors resulted in Qing Deng's waist strength reaching a level that surprised even himself.

His waist, abdomen, and back were stronger, and thanks to this, Qingdeng's limbs were also strengthened to some extent.

Ito Daizo, who had just been defeated by Aoto, and Kondo Isami, Souji, and others who were watching from the sidelines, probably never imagined that in the blink of an eye, Aoto's personal strength would have reached a new level.

If Aoto were to fight Ito Daizo again right now, he would be absolutely confident that he could gain the upper hand from the very beginning of the battle.

In unarmed and melee combat, the sayings "strength can overcome skill" and "practicing martial arts without internal strength training is a waste of time" are timeless truths.

Your opponent's attacks are faster and heavier than yours. In the time it takes you to throw one punch, they can throw three or four, and each punch can easily knock you down. What's the point of fighting?

After Qing Deng and Ito Daizo finished their sparring, everyone left the dojo and returned to the living room.

Having recovered from his dizziness, Ito Daizo chatted with Aoto and the others with renewed energy.

"It's alright now."

Qing Deng smiled slightly and joked:

"If anything happens to you, I'll be ganged up on and beaten up by the entire Ito Dojo."

"Hahaha."

Daizo Ito chuckled a few times, then offered a lukewarm compliment:

"Your Excellency, with your skills, even if all my disciples attacked, you should be able to escape unscathed!"

At this point, Daizo Ito straightened his posture and adopted a serious tone:

"Your Majesty, thank you for your guidance today. Thanks to you, I have received a very good reception!"

This should have been a very cheesy compliment, but Daizo Ito's perfect demeanor and refined tone diluted the greasy connotations of his words.

People respect me one foot, and I respect others ten feet.

In the spirit of "reciprocity" and "returning a favor," Qingdeng responded with lavish praise:

"You flatter me. I'm the one who should be thanking you. Thanks to you, I not only gained a lot today, but also felt a long-lost surge of excitement."

From a certain perspective, Qing Deng was not wrong.

He did not excessively praise Daizo Ito, but he did indeed gain considerable insights from him.

The mere fact that it's "the core of the elephant +1" is enough for Qingdeng to express his gratitude to Daizo Ito a hundred times.

"Haha, not at all, you flatter me. Alas, the path of martial arts is indeed like the sea of ​​knowledge, endless. Today's defeat has made me clearly realize how many shortcomings I still have that urgently need further improvement."

Daizo Ito paused here, then jokingly said:

"I still need to work harder."

Qing Deng somewhat understood why everyone who knew Daizo Ito greatly admired his character.

This handsome man, who wasn't much older than Qingdeng, certainly had an extraordinary air about him.

As a renowned swordsman, after being defeated by a newcomer like Qing Deng, he not only frankly admitted his defeat, but also decisively used the defeat as food, continuing to improve himself without arrogance or impatience... Such a mindset and such magnanimity are truly admirable.

The mutual flattery session will now come to a temporary end.

Next, Qing Deng and his group engaged in casual conversation with Ito Daizo without any specific topic.

Kondo Isami and Ito Daizo were about the same age. The former was only one year older than the latter.

The two are not only roughly the same age, but also have almost the same profession.

One is the current headmaster of the Ito Dojo, and the other is the future headmaster of the Shieikan Dojo.

Although Kondo has not yet fully inherited the Shieikan, as the only son of the Kondo family, it is only a matter of time before he takes over as the second head of Shieikan and the fourth head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu main family.

Perhaps it was this "similarity" that made Kondo Isami very interested in Ito Daizo.

Under the leadership of Ito Daizo, the Ito Dojo flourished and developed exceptionally well.

Kondo was eager to learn from Ito Daizo's experience and the secrets of running a kendo dojo, so he seized the opportunity and cleared his throat:

"Mr. Ito, if I may ask, did you encounter any difficult problems while running your dojo? And how did you deal with them?"

Daizo Ito raised an eyebrow.

"Oh! That's a good question. Hahaha, ever since I took over the Ito Dojo from my father-in-law, I've really encountered quite a few tricky troubles that still make my spine tingle when I think about them now."

Daizo Ito spoke very enthusiastically and earnestly.

Kondo listened with utmost focus and attention. His bull-like eyes were fixed intently on Ito Daizo, not even blinking, and his body unconsciously leaned forward towards Ito Daizo. It was as if he wanted to take out paper and pen and copy down every single word and sentence that Ito Daizo said.

With his excellent eloquence, Ito Daizo quickly and concisely recounted the various troubles he had encountered after taking over the dojo, and how he dealt with them.

Just then, suddenly, Ito Daizo said something that surprised everyone present except for Todo Heisuke.

"Haha, looking back carefully, I and this Ito Dojo entrusted to me by my father-in-law have really been through a lot of storms together... It's just a pity that my ambition is not to educate people. At the latest in five years, at the earliest in three years, I will lay down the burden of being the head of a dojo and return to being a carefree samurai."

Upon hearing Ito Daizo's words, Kondo immediately widened his eyes and retorted:

"Hmm? Mr. Ito, you... are you going to step down and no longer run the Ito Dojo?"

Daizo Ito smiled and nodded.

“I have found a cause that is more meaningful and noble than being a mere dojo master… or rather, a mission.”

"Compared to this great mission, a mere sword hall and the status of a mere sect master are utterly insignificant!"

"In the short term, I will continue to fulfill my duties as the head of the Ito Dojo, but as I just said, within five years at the latest, I will step down and relinquish all worldly affairs to devote all my energy to that great mission!"

"Mission..." Kondo Isami murmured, "What mission?"

A proud smile played on Ito Daizo's lips as he spoke, enunciating each word clearly:

"Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians!"

Before Daizo Ito could finish speaking, Aoto's brows furrowed instantly.

He subtly tensed all his muscles and asked Ito Daizo in a deep voice:

"Mr. Ito, you... are a patriot who upholds justice?"

It's no wonder that Qing Deng reacted this way.

Having personally witnessed the series of bizarre incidents orchestrated by the group of madmen led by the Expeditionary Barbarians, Qing Deng had developed a knee-jerk reaction to the term "Expel the Barbarians."

"Your Highness, please don't misunderstand."

Noticing the sudden change in Qing Deng's expression, Ito Daizo quickly waved his hand, distancing himself from the "radical anti-foreign faction" as fast as possible.

"Although I am a patriot who respects the cause of resisting foreign aggression, I am a genuine patriot, not a madman like the Anti-Barbarian Group who uses the name of righteousness to carry out killings."

At this moment, Souji, who was usually oblivious to worldly affairs and focused entirely on practicing his swordsmanship and eating sweets, asked in a naive and innocent tone:

"'Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians'? What does that mean?"

As soon as Souji finished speaking, Ito Daizo immediately perked up:

"Good question!"

Daizo Ito straightened his back, raised his voice a few decibels, and adopted the demeanor of a schoolteacher.

"'Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians' was originally a Tang Dynasty saying."

"During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in Tang China, Duke Huan of Qi, the hegemon of the State of Qi, raised the banner of 'honoring the king and repelling the barbarians,' honoring the Zhou emperor as the ruler of the Central Plains, and raising troops to resist the large-scale invasion of the nomadic peoples in the north and the Chu barbarians in the south..."

If we were to use 21st-century fashion terminology to describe it... then "Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians" would be the hottest new term in Japan right now.

"Respect the King and Expel the Barbarians"—this slogan, due to its extremely broad applicability, gradually evolved into a political term with complex meanings after the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, playing an important role in the history of the Central Plains, the Korean Peninsula, the Japanese archipelago, and other regions.

In 1853, the sixth year of the Yongjia era, after the "Black Ships Incident" in which Commodore Perry of the United States Navy led his fleet to Japan, two schools of thought emerged in Japan: the "Revere the Emperor" theory and the "Expel the Barbarians" theory.

The "Expel the Barbarians" theory is easy to understand; it means expelling all the Western barbarians without exception, and returning Japan to a state of isolation and seclusion from the world.

The idea of ​​"revering the emperor" has a long history, dating back to the first samurai government in Japan: the Kamakura Shogunate (1192-1333).

At that time, the Emperor's political power was completely seized by the samurai family for the first time, and they have basically never regained it since.

Although the Emperor is marginalized politically, his cultural and spiritual influence remains strong due to the unique national circumstances.

This is why, despite the successive changes of power within the Wu family, no one ever deposed the Chrysanthemum Clan.

Therefore, influenced by the special spiritual appeal and cultural influence of the imperial family, Japan has never lacked people who are loyal to the imperial family and want to restore the glory of the Kyoto court.

Historically, with the assistance of these loyal courtiers, the Emperor almost regained control of the country.

The "Black Ships Incident" dealt a heavy blow to the authority of the Edo Shogunate.

From the daimyo of the feudal domains to ordinary people, countless people harbored deep doubts about the strength of the Edo Shogunate and whether the Tokugawa family still had the ability to govern the country.

This gave those who believed in the "respect for the emperor" theory a once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity to restore the authority of the emperor and the Kyoto court!

For a time, the "respect for the king" theory became rampant.

Respecting the king and repelling the barbarians—these two ideas, which are completely unrelated in meaning and doctrine, should not have any connection.

But the course of history can sometimes be quite unexpected.

Whether they wanted to respect the emperor or expel the barbarians, their struggles were all directed at the same target: the Edo Shogunate.

Those who support the imperial restoration movement believe that the Edo Shogunate was a traitor who usurped the country.

Those who advocated for the expulsion of foreigners believed that the Edo Shogunate was a useless entity that groveled before barbarians and couldn't even defeat them.

Although both sides disliked the Edo Shogunate, a weakened camel is still bigger than a horse.